The current tariff for hackney carriage fares
operating in Aylesbury Town had last been reviewed in April 2010.
Rural hackney carriage fares had been reviewed in November 2016.
The Aylesbury Carriage Taxi Association, the organisation that
represented taxi drivers operating in Aylesbury Town, had proposed
a new tariff. The proposals had been considered by the Licensing
Committee on 11 December 2018. At that meeting, Members found
anomalies with the figures proposed and felt clarification was
needed so the Committee resolved for this to come back in 2019.
Since then, the Principal Licensing Officer had met with
representatives from the Aylesbury Hackney Carriage Association and
new fares had been prepared. The Committee report outlined a new
schedule of proposed fares across various Tariffs depending on the
day and time and the Principal Licensing Officer highlighted the
main changes to Members. This included the removal of a luggage
charge, as most hackney carriages had capacity, and the reasonable
inclusion of a soiling of vehicle charge. Aylesbury Vale currently
had one of the lowest hackney carriage fares in the country. Even
with the proposed changes, Aylesbury Vale would continue to present
one of the cheapest fares for an average two mile journey when
compared to other local authority areas.

Local authorities had the power to set fares
for hackney carriages under section 65 of the Local Government
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976. When making changes to the
fares, the Council must publish in at least one local newspaper the
proposed tariff for a period of 14 days minimum and invite
objections. A copy of the notice would also be available for
inspection at the council offices. Any objections received and not
withdrawn during this period would be reported to the Committee for
consideration. The ultimate decision was made by the Cabinet
Member, however historically the Licensing Committee were consulted
on this.

Members sought more information and were
advised that:-

i.
A higher tariff had previously been agreed for ‘rural’
Hackney Carriages operating outside of Aylesbury Town Centre
because they typically cover further distances. The higher rural tariff was to off-set the number
of ‘dead miles’ which was described as those miles when
no passenger was being carried.

ii.
The figures proposed by the Aylesbury Carriage Taxi Association
were believed to be a reasonable increase, particularly given as
there has been no change for nearly nine years.

iii.
Aylesbury Vale did have a unique two tariff system of urban and
rural rates. The type of tariff used would depend on the vehicle.
Black taxis (white plates) operated to the Aylesbury Town tariff
and the white taxis (red plates) operated to the rural tariff.

iv.
Officers had considered that the proposed increase was generally
less than the inflationary adjusted figure and had discussed this
with representatives from the ACTA. The
ACTA were concerned that if fares were too high then this would put
them at a competitive disadvantage.
Officers preferred to be led by the trade in considering revised
fare proposals, providing they were reasonable. Interested ...
view the full minutes text for item 2.